Weather Radar Gets Major Improvements

The nearest National Weather radar in Eglin, FL will be offline for the next week while the site undergoes upgrades.

It's all part of the largest nation wide system upgrade in the last twenty years. The new technology Is called Dual Polarization. Rather than shooting out one horizontal radar beam, the new system shoots a second vertical beam.

According to News Chanel 7 chief meteorologist Chris Smith, the new radar will make an impact in forecasts.

"It's going to be able to tell us more information about what it is we are looking at. Is it looking at how big a rain drop is or is it looking at something much bigger like debris from a tornado or something like that? Now we don't have the ability to see the fine details of what an individual item is. We will be able to pick things out whether it's a bird, rain, or debris from a possible tornado," said Smith.

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